The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, though this does not imply an endorsement.

Kevin and Deven Wallace

CHARISMATIC CHURCH PURCHASES HIGHLAND PARK’S OLD PROPERTY (Friday Church News Notes, August 3, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - My wife and I graduated in the 1970s from Tennessee Temple, which was operated by Highland Park Baptist Church. It went defunct after pursuing a contemporary path, and today the property is owned by Redemption to the Nations Church pastored by husband-wife team Kevin and Deven Wallace. One of the upcoming events at this charismatic church is Redemption Kids Talent Night, at which kids are encouraged to “show the gifts God has given you with a song, dance, magic show or other talents.” The church’s objective is to “impart a Kingdom mandate,” which refers to the heresy of building the kingdom of God in this present world. The church’s Redemption School of Ministry is “where you can be yourself.” Somehow, I don’t recall that being on the apostle Paul’s training curriculum. I could find no gospel message at the church’s web site. The closest thing is a section on baptism, which says that baptism is for “anyone who commits his or her life to following Jesus,” which is not a biblical definition of born again salvation. There is no hint of Holy Spirit conviction, acknowledgment of sin, repentance toward God, or faith in the blood of Jesus Christ and in His resurrection. We document the sad downfall of Highland Park Baptist Church in the book Biblical Separatism and Its Collapse, which is available in print or as a free eBook from Way of Life Literature.

BODY OF WATER FOUND ON MARS (Friday Church News Notes, August 3, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Evolutionary scientists have been trying to find life on Mars ever since Percival Lowell thought he saw canals and an advanced alien civilization with his 24-inch telescope at the turn of the 20th century. Now the Italian Space Agency has announced that it has “detected signs of a large, stable body of liquid water locked away beneath a mile of ice near Mars’ south pole” (“Scientists Discover Evidence of the First Large Body of Liquid Water on Mars,” Wired, Jul. 25, 2018). We are told that the findings “raise tantalizing questions about the planet’s … potential for harboring life.” There is only one little thing that is missing from this “potential,” and that is a Creator. Evolutionists have never demonstrated a scientifically feasible path from non-life to life. Darwinian evolution has no creative mechanism. Natural selection is not creative; it is selective of pre-existing genetic material. Mutations are not creative; in fact, they are overwhelmingly destructive. (For more on this we recommend Seeing the Non-Existent: Evolution’s Myths and Hoaxes, which is available from www.wayoflife.org.)

PENTECOSTALS CELEBRATE WOMEN PREACHERS (Friday Church News Notes, August 3, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - At its 100th International Assembly, the Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP) celebrated women preachers. The Assembly opened with a sermon by Cathy Payne and later appointed Kathryn Creasy as executive director of Leadership Development. Sam Clements, General Overseer, said, “Let me say to women, I appreciate your ministry, whether a speaking ministry or a serving ministry.” He said that “Jesus broke with Jewish tradition by allowing women to be a part of His ministry” (“Pentecostal Denomination Celebrates, Reaffirms Women in Ministry,” Charisma, Jul. 29, 2018). Jesus most definitely did value and exalt women beyond Jewish tradition, but He did not appoint any female leaders. There were no female apostles. The New Testament plainly and unequivocally disqualifies women from teaching men or from assuming leadership positions. Paul said, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over the man” (1 Ti. 2:12). The qualification for a elder/bishop is that he be “the husband of one wife.” This is repeated twice by way of emphasis (1 Ti. 3:2; Tit. 1:6). From their inception in the early 20th century, most Pentecostal denominations, including the Church of God of Prophecy, have disobeyed this clear teaching by appointing women preachers. The COGOP also holds to the following heresies: tongues speaking is “the initial evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit”; sanctification is “an instantaneous work” subsequent to regeneration that “crucifies and cleanses the old nature”; the apostolic sign gifts are operating today; healing is guaranteed by Christ’s atonement “without the aid of medicine.” (For more on this see the teaching courses The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements: The History and the Errorand The Woman and Her Service to God, both of which are available from www.wayoflife.org.)

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S ADMISSION THAT THEY LIED ABOUT THE STARVING POLAR BEAR (Friday Church News Notes, August 3, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - A National Geographic video in 2017 featured a starving polar bear with the caption “This is what climate change looks like.” The estimated 2.5 billion people who viewed the video were given the distinct impression that climate change was the cause of the bear’s condition. Now the editor admits that they “went too far in drawing a definitive connection between climate change and a particular starving polar bear” (“Starving Polar Bear Photographer Recalls What Went Wrong,” National Geographic, Aug. 2018). The photographer Cristina Mittermeir, an environmental activist, says, “With this image, we thought we had found a way to help people imagine what the future of climate change might look like. We were, perhaps, naive. The picture went viral—and people took it literally.” The updated version of the video says, simply, “This is what a starving polar bear looks like,” but the narration of the sad scenes of the dying bear still leaves the impression that climate change will wipe out polar bears. It is nothing more than propaganda. Yet again, National Geographic’s zeal to promote a pet narrative has led them to promote a myth under the guise of science, and they won’t be able to undo the influence of the misguiding video, even if they wanted to. (See also Seeing the Non-Existent: Evolution’s Myths and Hoaxes, available from www.wayoflife.org.)

MARIJUANA ENTHUSIASTS CLAIM THAT JESUS HEALED BY MEANS OF THE DRUG (Friday Church News Notes, August 3, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - There is no end to the nonsense that comes from the world of marijuana (cannabis) activism. David Bienenstock, a “cannabis historian,” claims that Jesus healed the blind and the epileptic with marijuana oil. Canna Magazine said the same thing in 2003. “Though many have interpreted these stories [of Jesus’ miracles] as testimony of God’s intervention, researchers now offer a different interpretation … that Jesus used cannabis to heal the sick.” We would like to know how many blind and deaf these people have healed by means of marijuana. But many would rather believe such nonsense than take the Bible at face value and believe on Jesus as the Son of God. The name of Israeli cannabis research company Tikun Olam means “amending the world,” as if marijuana is a saviour. I was a heavy marijuana user before I was saved at age 23, and I can testify that it is no innocent plaything and certainly no saviour.

ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES APPOINTS FIRST OPENLY GAY GENERAL (Friday Church News Notes, August 3, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “IDF promotes its first openly gay major general,” The Times of Israel, Jul. 12, 2018: “The Israel Defense Forces promoted its top lawyer, Sharon Afek, to major general on Thursday, making him the country’s first openly gay person to hold that rank and reinforcing the significance of his position in the military. ‘The rank promotion expresses the great responsibility of the military advocate general to act, shoulder to shoulder with commanders, in order to ensure that the IDF is able to fulfill its goal and win, without giving up on the rule of law,’ Afek said during the ceremony. … In an interview with the Israeli Bar Association last year, Afek said it was an important step in showing members of the LGBT community that the army would accept them. ‘It’s important for me to act as a role model,’ he said. ‘Even today, in the year 2017, we still encounter manifestations of ignorance and hatred of others. It’s important to me that young men and women know that there are no glass ceilings in the IDF that limit them.’”

BEWARE OF PRIDE OF SCHOLARSHIP (Friday Church News Notes, August 3, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “Education is, therefore, a fearful gift, bringing tremendous accountability; it should lead to humility, thanksgiving, activity, and devotion. When these are wanting, a godless prostitution of the powers is the result … The Christian scholar should pray with every breath, that he be not high-minded, but fear. In proportion as he rises in attainment, he should sink in veneration, and dissolve in love; striving to increase his simple devotions as he increases his mental discoveries” (J.W. Alexander, Thoughts on Preaching, 1864, p 85).DINOGOOSE (Friday Church News Notes, August 3, 2018, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, July 10, 2018: “An article in the Los Angeles Times about a recent fossil find began: ‘If it walks like a duck and swims like a duck, it might be a dinosaur.’ The writer was referring to a fossil called Halszkaraptor escuilliei, which the paleontologists think shows traits of both therapod and aquatic bird—a sort of dinogoose. These scientists did not discover the fossil. They purchased it from Mongolia in an area where certain other fossil purchases have proved controversial. Scientists claim that the bird has a beak-like structure, which, they say, cannot be a beak because it contains teeth. It should be noted that there are other dinosaurs that have beak-like structures, and, indeed, other animals such as the platypus. The LA Times article states that the creature ‘probably sported plumage.’ Their reason for this statement can only be question-begging because the article admits that ‘no feathers survived on this specimen.’ Even the phrase ‘no feathers survived’ is a biased statement. The specimen featured no feathers, but this can only mean that feathers had not ‘survived,’ if it was known for sure that feathers originally existed. There is no such evidence, so once again we see that statements are made from an evolutionary starting point with no justification for that starting point being given. God made such a wide variety of creatures in the world that, as Bible-believing Christians, we have no trouble accepting that here, perhaps, is a new type of dinosaur that we have not previously known. We are not obliged to attribute qualities to the creature just because of any a priori commitment.”

CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).

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Distributed by Way of Life Literature., publisher of Bible Study Materials and reports for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY (REPORTS AND FRIDAY NEWS) IS NOT DEVOTIONAL. IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR.David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.orgThe Way of Life Literature preaching and publishing ministry is based at Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. A mail stop is maintained in Port Huron, Michigan.

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